From Recruitment to Guest Experience

Published 30.10.2024 - Michael A. Di Palma

In hospitality, the “personal touch” isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s an essential ingredient for creating memorable experiences. It’s about genuine care, attention to detail, and human connection—whether between an employer and their team, employees and their guests, or even between job applicants and recruiters.

Unfortunately, as the recruitment process becomes increasingly transactional, it’s evident that this will trickle down into how customer service is delivered. If candidates feel like just another number during the hiring process, why would we expect them to treat guests any differently once they’re on board?

The personal touch starts long before a guest walks through the door. It begins with the way we engage with potential employees—making them feel valued, heard, and seen. This sets the tone for the entire culture of a business. A recruitment process that fosters relationships, not transactions, builds teams that genuinely care about delivering great service.

I believe that while tech and artificial intelligence have invaluable roles to play in any industry, they must be carefully managed within hospitality to ensure we don’t stray from the personal touch that defines truly exceptional guest experiences.

For example, the new tech platforms used for recruitment need to be rethought. While they help streamline processes, they often lack the personal element essential to hospitality. Tech platforms should be updated to incorporate responses that reflect a personal touch. Simple information provided by applicants— not just their name, but any experiences, or personal interests there might have had—can be used to create thoughtful, humanised responses that make automated replies feel personal, not just like data-driven creations. 

Acknowledging these details in a more conversational and genuine tone would go a long way in setting the right tone for how we want to interact with people from day one.

If we want to revive and maintain the warmth, personality, and professionalism that make hospitality special, we need to bring the personal touch back to every level of our industry. It’s about people. Always has been, always will be.